Fishy Friday

Here  are two small prototype fish I have been working on.

Both will be glazed and single fired.  The white one on the left has it's base coat on.  The terra cotta one is still drying.  To single fire the pieces must be absolute dry before glazing. 

These are the beginning of an idea I have for larger fish whistles.  Single firing gives me results in one step.

I just realized it's the long weekend so we will be off to do errands, hopefully, before things become too crazed.

Celebrate and remember those who fought so  hard and gave so much for our country.

As always, thanks for stopping by............*s*

Toss It?

This is a prime example of why I am so hesitant about getting rid of studio stuff.

The tumblers are part of a set of plates, bowls, tumblers that I bought for my class of developmentally delayed adults.  They enjoyed working with different forms.  However, I have not even thought of them since I retired several years ago.

I had them in a box to go to the resale shop when I started looking at the gravy boat below.  I used to make these fairly often.  I never glazed this one due to too many cracks inside.  This was from a thrown bowl with the rim pinched together.  I cut a vee and inserted a slab like a gusset to make the spout with thrown and handbuilt additions.

Looked at the mugs and looked at the creamer and thought of handbuilding using the mug, and pinching the rim together and forming a spout.  These are easy to grab with one hand.  They will probably hold a bit over one cup when finished.

I like the one on the left better.  I cut part of the rim to make more of a curve in the top profile.  These two are just the beginning, but as usual I am enjoying exploring a new form.  I am not even sure where the creamer form came from.  Probably one of my books!I'm sure it has been done a thousand times over, but I am still enjoying making these.

We are supposed to have a super Memorial Day weekend.  Remember and celebrate all those who have given their lives fighting for us!

As always, thanks for stopping by.............*s*

Majolica Monday

I see Mugshot Monday and other Monday pots on Facebook.  Since I do majolica I've decide to try to post something about majolica.

This is a cookie jar I made for a show I did last year.  I love nursery and nonsense rhymes, so of course the Egg came to mind.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the King's horses,

And all the King's men

Could not put Humpty together again.

As with so many early nursery rhymes this one has political over/under tones.

This is bisqued and glaze fired to ^04.  The interior is glazed with Spectrum clear with a little Mason Iron stirred in which I brushed onto the unfired clay.  (Spectrum glazes in particular once fire very well.)  I find that just a bit of iron gets rid of the milkiness that can happen with clear over terra cotta.

 It's glazed In either Linda Arbuckle's Majolica or Spectrum's Majolica White.  I do add a little rutile to my whites to take away the over-whiteness and get a slightly creamy quality to the glaze.

I paint mostly with Mason Stains mixed 50/50with Frit 3124.  This gives me a watercolor look which I can blend with my fingers when dry.  Before I do my outlining I spray the whole thing with super hold hair spray.  The colors are just a little bit more stable and make outlining much easier.  I always use a black underglaze for my outlining.  If I want my color to be more opaque I mix my stains with a gerstley borate and frit mix.  This gives them a flatness comparable to gouache.  This mix also works well as an underglaze.

I've begun planting some of the big planters.  I potted up eight small dahlias yesterday and a bunch of moonflower seedlings.  I saw them in the greenhouse and decided to go with seedling this year.  I ended up buying large moonflower plants last year because rain kept washing out and rotting seeds.  I feel a bit ahead of the game.

It's cloudy now.  I would like to be out planting, but unfortunately we have to go out for a bit!  It's supposed to get sunny and warm later on......toes crossed.

Have a fine Memorial Day.....drink to The Lost.

As always, thanks for stopping by..............*s*

Who Do you Trust?

I wasn't going to post today, but I've been thinking about  a post I read on Jody Hedlund's blog titled "Is Our Culture become too Critical and Open?"  She is a writer, but raises many good points about criticism on the internet.

I have seen reviews from readers that are absolutely vitriolic and ignorant about the subject matter they purport to be critiquing.  (And can somebody tell me why so many reutable newspapers allow anonymous comments?)

If you are going to give a critique of any creative work I think you should have a strong basic knowledge of your subject.  Calling the creator names and worse does nothing to further the strength of the work.  On the other hand, "It's so nice;  I really like is a lot.", gives nothing either.

It is possible to be honest without being mean.  Many years ago a group of potters used to get together once a week.  We got into a mode of giving honest crits without being nasty about it. At the same time statements like, "It's so nice; I really like it a lot.", without any backup were not acceptable either.  That two or three years were invaluable in teaching me to be open to options and to thoughtfully defend what I was doing.  Alas the group gradually stopped meeting due to other things happening in our lives, but when I returned to university to finally finish my degree I had an invaluable tool because I had been through it all.

So, my question is "Where do you go, when you are working on an idea and need input?"  Friends, fellow potters, the internet?  I stay away from anything where people can post anonymously because I think there is too much of the ego driven fourteen year old boy out there, who thinks he knows what he is talking about, but doesn't.  Not all those fourteen year old boys are fourteen year old boys...it's my catch-all label after having worked with early teens.

I'm going to post this over on Mud Colony, but may return with more thoughts.  Click on the link to see  what is happening in the world of clay.

The rain has finally stopped; we've had over two inches in the last four days. It's still cloudy, but windy; supposedly we will have sun by tomorrow.  I need to dry out a bit.  I have pots that I threw on Tuesday that are still too wet to trim.

Remember those who have given so much for the USA on this Memorial Day and enjoy the rest of the week end.

As always, thanks for stopping by.......*s*